Subminiature tube socket assembly



7, 1956 F. E. BERG 2,758,292

SUBMINIATURE TUBE SOCKET ASSEMBLY Filed Dec. 2, 1952 INVENTOR FRANKLIN E- BERG ATTO R N EY United States Patent SUBMINIATURE TUBE SOCKET ASSEMBLY Franklin E. Berg, Bronx, N. Y., assignor to International Telephone and Telegraph Corporation, a corporation of Maryland Application December 2, 1952, Serial No. 323,569

4 Claims. (Cl. 339-193) This invention relates to a socket assembly for a subminiature tube and more particularly to a subminiature tube socket and holder for use in conjunction with a supporting chassis to rigidly hold the tube in place during periods of operation.

Subminiature tubes, unlike usual electronic tubes which have rigid pins or contact members, have flexible conductor leads extending through the envelope, permitting contact between the circuit components and the tube elements within the envelope. Because these leads are not rigid, extreme difiiculty has been experienced in designing suitable tube sockets for use with these subminiature tubes. In the past it has been usual to utilize a subminiature tube holder to maintain the tube in a fixed position during operation, and then through the use of solder connections the circuit components were coupled directly to the flexible wire leads. However, this practice has led to certain obvious disadvantages, such as the difliculty which was experienced when the removal of the tube became necessary. Removing the tube necessitated the elimination of the soldered connections between the flexible wire leads and the circuit components, often resulting in destruction and injury to circuit components during the process of removal due to the heat necessary to remove the connection.

One of the objects of this invention, therefore, is to provide a subminiature tube socket assembly which permits easy removal of the subminiature tube without disturbing the associated circuit components.

Another object of this invention is to provide a subminiature tube socket and holder which will insure the physical stability of the tube even in the presence of extreme vibrations.

One of the features of this invention is the use of a subminiature tube socket assembly comprising an annular ring of insulating material having its inside surface threaded and to which an associated supporting member for the tube may be threadably coupled, thus allowing the threaded tube socket annular ring to act as a looking nut insuring the rigidity of the tube holder against vibrations.

Another feature of this invention is the use of a plurality of hollow contact posts around the circumference of the tube socket to which both the flexible wire leads of the tube elements and the leads from the circuit components may be independently connected.

The above-mentioned and other features and objects of this invention will become more apparent by reference to the following description taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, in which:

Fig. 1 is a cross-sectional view of the subminiature tube socket and holder of this invention; and

Fig. 2 is a plan view of the subminiature tube socket shown in Fig. 1.

Referring to Figs. 1 and 2, the subminiature tube socket assembly of this invention is shown to comprise a tube holder 1 and socket 2. The tube holder 1 may be composed of any suitable material, such as aluminum,

. 2,758,292 Patented Aug. 7, 1956 ice and is preferably tubular in shape having an inner di ameter substantially the same dimension as the outer diameter of the envelope 3 of subminiature tube 4. The tube holder may have its upper end split by longitudinal slits 5 cut therein so that it may be formed with an inside diameter slightly smaller than the outside diameter of the glass envelope 3 to allow opposing elements to grip in a supporting position with spring-like action the subminiature tube 4 when it is inserted into the tube holder 1. The base or lower portion 6 of the tube holder 1 is threaded. The tube socket 2 is composed of an annular ring of insulating material, such as fiberglass or any other insulator having mechanical rigidity and which is able to withstand high temperatures with low electrical losses. The socket 2 has its inside diameter 7 threaded in a complementary manner to the threaded portion 6 of subminiature tube holder 1.

The subminiature tube socket assembly is designed for use in conjunction with a chassis 8 having an opening 9 cut therein. For additional rigidity and physical stability, the chassis opening 9 may have its periphery threaded to receive the threaded portion 6 of the tube holder 1.

The subminiature tube 4 is inserted in the metal holder 1 and held in a supporting position due to the spring action of the holder. The holder 1 containing the subminiature tube 4 is threaded into the opening 9 of the chassis 8. If desired, an abutment 10 may be added to the tube holder 1 so that it will act as a mechanical stop when the holder is threaded into the opening 9. The length of the threaded portion 6 is such that when shoulder 10 abuts chassis 8, a portion of the threads extends through opening 9 to the under portion of chassis 8. The subminiature tube socket 2 is coupled onto the lower portion of the tube holder 1 extending through the threaded chassis opening 9 by means of threads 7 on the internal periphery of the annular ring and thus acts as a locking nut imparting mechanical rigidity to the tube holder 1.

As shown in Fig. 1, the annular ring of insulator material comprising tube socket 2 is drilled through and countersunk at a plurality of spaced points 11 to provide recesses having openings extending therethrough. A hollow lug or contact post 12 is placed in each of the drilled positions, and then the head portion is flared in the countersunk portion 13. If desired, the remaining countersunk portion between the top of the flared contact post and the bottom of the chassis 8 may be plugged with a suitable high temperature insulating material; however, this is not essential. The posts 12 are disposed on the side of the tube socket 2 away from the chassis 8 in a manner corresponding to the disposition of the flexible wire leads 14 from the subminiature tube 4. The tube socket 2 may be keyed by a mark 15 in a manner well known to those skilled in the art so that the flexible leads 14 will be disposed in positions corresponding to the desired contact posts. Each of the flexible leads 14 is placed in the center of a corresponding hollow post 12 and may be coupled thereto by means of a solder connection. The external lower portion of each of the lugs is utilized to mount any desired circuit components 16 by coupling thereto a conductive lead 17 which may be of any convenient length. Obviously, the positioning of leads 14 and 17 may be interchanged, that is, lead 17 may be placed in the center of posts 12 and leads 14 coupled to the external portion.

In order to remove the subminiature tube 4 in case of burn-out or failure, it is only necessary to remove the flexible wire leads 14 from the center portion of the contact posts 12 without disturbing either the circuit components 16 or the conductive leads 17 from circuit components. Once the flexible wire leads from subminiature tube 4 are disconnected from contact posts 12, the tube 4 may be removed from the tube holder 1 and replaced by a good tube or the tube holder 1 may be unscrewed from both the socket 2 and chassis 8. If the tube holder is removed, the subminiature tube 4 may be disconnected therefrom and a new tube inserted into the holder. The holder 1 can then be remounted on chassis 8 and socket 2 and the flexible wire leads from the new tube connected to contact posts 12 in the manner hereinbefore explained, thus enabling the easy removal of a burnedout tube from the circuit and the replacement of a new tube in the circuit without any disturbance to the circuit elements.

When desoldering the connection of flexible conductor leads 14 from contact posts 12), care must be exercised that the connections between leads 1'7 and the contact post 12 are not destroyed. This may be more easily accomplished it leads 17 are twined around posts 12 before they are soldered. Thus, when heat is applied to desolder lead 14, lead 17 will remain in contact with post 12 until such time as its own solder connection cools sufliciently to re-establish a firm contact.

While I have described above the principles of my invention in connection with specific apparatus, it is to be clearly understood that this description is made only by way of example and not as a limitation to the scope of my invention as set forth in the objects thereof and in the accompanying claims.

I claim:

1. A socket assembly for subminiature electron tubes of the type having an enclosing envelope and a plurality of flexible conductor leads extending through said envelope from the elements of said tube, comprising a tubular member to receive a subminiature tube in sup ported position, said member having the base portion thereof threaded and adapted to extend through an opening in a supporting chassis, an annular ring of an insulating material having its inner periphery threaded to threadably receive the base portion of said member to thereby clamp the assembly to a supporting chassis, said tubular member including an abutment adapted to engage one side of said chassis when said member is threadably engaged in said annular ring, and a plurality of contact posts carried by said annular ring, each post having means by which the conductor leads of a tube and associated circuit components may be connected thereto.

2. A socket assembly according to claim 1, wherein each of said posts has a hollow shank to receive therein conductor leads of a tube, the shank of each post protruding from said ring for connection thereto of the conductor leads of said associated circuit components.

3. A socket assembly according to claim 1, wherein said ring has a recess with openings extending therethrough in communication with said recess, and said posts are each provided with a head receivable in said recess and a shank for extension through one of said openings, said shank being hollow to receive a conductor lead and of such a length to protrude from said ring for connection thereto of other leads.

4. A socket assembly for subminiature electron tubes of the type having an enclosing envelope and a plurality of flexible conductor leads extending through said envelope from the elements of said tube comprising a tubular member to receive a subminiature tube in supported position having the upper end portion thereof split to provide opposed elements to grip the envelope of a subminiature tube placed in said member, said member having the base portion thereof threaded and adapted to extend through an opening in a supporting chassis, an annular ring of insulating material for location adjacent the bottom side of the chassis having its inner periphery threaded to threadably receive the base portion of said member to thereby clamp the assembly to a supporting chassis, said ring having a recess with openings extending therethrough in communication with said recess, said tubular member including an abutment adapted to engage the top side of the chassis when said tubular member is threadably engaged in said annular ring, a plurality of contact posts each provided with a head received in said recess and a hollow shank for extension through one of said openings, said shank adapted to receive at least one conductor lead of said subminiature tube and being of such a length to protrude from said ring for connection thereto of other electrical leads and said annular ring including keying means to align said contact post and the conductor leads of the subminiature tube supported by said socket assembly.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,758,269 Wiegand a- May 13, 1930 1,845,699 Brown Feb. 16, 1932 2,211,659 Johanson Aug. 13, 1940 2,339,196 Robbins Jan. 11, 1944 2,340,053 Grimes Jan. 25, 1944 2,414,053 Dunning Jan. 14, 1947 2,531,085 Stacey Nov. 21, 1950 2,653,181 Millett Sept. 22, 1953 2,694,799 Del Camp Nov. 16, 1954 FOREIGN PATENTS 246,619 Great Britain Feb. 4, 1926 

